News and notes from each week of NASCAR racing using a Las Vegas oddsmaking perspective

Thursday, July 28, 2016

Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch favored to win Pennsylvania 400

Will it be a Chevrolet or Toyota winning Sunday?

LAS VEGAS -- Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch have never won at Pocono Raceway, but the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook has posted them co-favorites to win Sunday's Pennsylvania 400 based on consistency and current form.

This will be the second race of the season at Pocono's 2.5-mile tricky triangle and results from the June 6 race will be a key component to handicapping the race, as well as last week's Brickyard 400 because Indianapolis Motor Speedway has similar traits, such as the longest straights in the series.MORE: Pocono forecast: Rain

Let's take a look at all the driver odds and how they've done at Pocono over the years.ODDS TO WIN PENNSYLVANIA 400

Kevin Harvick: 6/1 — He leads the series in points (671) and top-10 finishes (16), which is why he's considered a favorite. No wins in 31 Pocono starts, but he does have seven top-fives and was ninth in June.

Kyle Busch: 6/1 — His win last week at the Brickyard gives him four on the season and ties him for the most in the series. His 11 top-five finishes through 20 races this season is three more than the next closest. He's been close to winning at Pocono several times, but only has an 18.9 average finish in 23 starts.

“I think I’ve been a bit inconsistent or streaky there over the years," Kyle Busch said. "I started off early in my career with some top-five finishes and then went through a stretch where we weren’t very good. Lately, we’ve certainly been better there and I’ve had some second-place finishes and third-place finishes, so I feel like I’ve figured it out better there, lately. With the way our cars at JGR have been overall, I’m very optimistic that we could score a victory there this weekend with our M&M’S 75th Anniversary Camry.”Martin Truex Jr.: 7/1 — He's finished 19th in his past two Pocono races after capturing his first victory there in June 2015. Like Busch, with the Joe Gibbs Racing equipment, he's a real contender to win this week.